7 delicious easy-to-make salads!

When you are on a weight loss mission, salads turn out to be your true friends. A good salad is a mix of proteins and carbohydrates that not only fills your stomach but satiates your taste buds too.

Here is a list of 7 easy to make salads and my personal favourite recipes. Replace this with your traditional dinner and you would see a change in your weight and quality of skin in no time!

Once you start making these salads, you can tweak the dressing and mix and match the ingredients from one salad to the other.

Corn Salad

Ingredients:

• One Cup American Corn
• Raw Mango juliennes
• Cucumber

Dressing:

• Olive Oil
• Lemon Juice
• Salt to taste
• Roasted peppercorn
• Coriander

Method:

• Boil the corn in an open container for 10 minutes and strain.
• Cut the cucumber and raw mango into small pieces and mix it with the corn.
• Add one-tablespoon olive oil, juice of one full lemon, salt to taste and ground roasted peppercorn.
• Mix well. Garnish with washed, finely chopped coriander.

Bonus: you can also add finely chopped tomatoes, onions and carrots to the mix, more the merrier.

Rajma Salad

Ingredients:

• One cup rajma
• Curd
• Milk (Optional)
• Garlic Cloves
• ½ Inch Ginger

Dressing:

• Olive Oil
• Salt to taste
• Whole Peppercorn
• Whole Jeera
• Whole Coriander Seeds

Method:

• Soak the rajma for a minimum of 4 hours (preferably overnight).
• Cook in a pressure cooker with salt and piece of ginger for up to 3 whistles.
• Hang the curd in a muslin cloth over night.
• Beat the hung curd till it reaches a creamy consistency; you can add milk for it to be of desired consistency. Strain the rajma (you can use the rajma water for other cooking so store the water in fridge).
• Mix the Rajma in the hung curd.
• Lightly pound chopped garlic cloves and add to the salad. In a pan lightly roast the peppercorn, Jeera and Dhaniya Seeds till they give out aroma.
• Pound them into powder, and mix it in the salad along with more salt (if required) and olive oil.

Bonus: Instead of Rajma try making the same recipe with cooked boneless chicken with added celery leaves, tastes mind-blowing. For another vegetarian variation you can replace the Rajma with chickpeas and add cut capsicum to the same recipe.

Papaya salsa Salad

Ingredients:

• One Cup cut Papaya
• Tomatoes
• Garlic Cloves

Dressing:

• Olive Oil
• Salt to taste
• Lemon juice (or Apple cider vinegar)
• Whole Peppercorn
• Whole Jeera
• Whole Coriander Seeds

Method:

• Cut papaya into small pieces, mix with finely chopped tomatoes.
• For the dressing add lightly pound chopped garlic cloves.
• In a pan lightly roast the peppercorn, Jeera and Dhaniya Seeds till they give out aroma.
• Pound them into powder and mix it in the salad along with more salt (if required), lemon juice (or Apple cider vinegar) and olive oil.

Bonus: You can replace the papaya with any other creamy fruit like a banana or mango or even avocado.

Beetroot Salad

Ingredients:

• Beetroot
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Capsicum
• Carrots

Dressing:

• Olive Oil
• Salt to taste
• Lemon juice (or Apple cider vinegar)
• Chives
• Oregano
• Chili Flakes
• Or Italian Mix Garnishing

Method:

• Cook the beetroot until the beetroot peel comes off with a still touch.
• Let the beetroot cool. Cut all the ingredients in small pieces.
• Mix all the ingredients to Olive oil, salt to taste, one tablespoon Lemon juice (or Apple cider vinegar).
• Mix dried chives, chili flakes and oregano; alternatively you can also sprinkle the Italian mix to the salad.

Bonus: You can replace the beetroot with cooked chickpeas. They taste equally delicious

Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• Penne Pasta
• Capsicum (Green, Yellow and Red)
• Button Mushrooms
• Cherry Tomatoes (you can use normal tomatoes cut into small pieces instead as well)
• Garlic cloves

Dressing:

• Olive Oil
• Salt to taste
• Chives
• Oregano
• Chili Flakes
• Or Italian Mix Garnishing

Method:

• Take a pan of water, bring to boil, add olive oil and salt.
• Add pasta and cook till its soft, drain the pasta in a strainer, run cold water over it so it doesn’t stick.
• In a pan take two tablespoon olive oil, add garlic, let it cook for a while.
• Add the chives, oregano and chili Flakes. Roast till it gives out aroma. Add capsicum, button mushroom julienne, and add tomatoes.
• Simmer till they are half cooked. Add the pasta. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the stove. Add olive oil. Serve hot or cold.

Bonus: You can also add boiled corn or chicken to the salad.

Paneer and Cherry Tomatoes Salad

Ingredients:

• Paneer (Cottage Cheese)
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Basil Leaves

Dressing:

• Olive Oil
• Lemon juice (or Apple cider vinegar)
• Salt to taste
• Whole Peppercorn
• Whole Jeera
• Whole Coriander Seeds

Method:

• Wash and cut paneer into small pieces, cut each cherry tomato into half.
• Wash and tear the basil leaves. Mix all the ingredients.
• In a pan lightly roast the peppercorn, Jeera and Dhaniya Seeds till they give out aroma.
• Pound them into powder and mix it in the salad along with more salt (if required), lemon juice (or Apple cider vinegar) and olive oil.

Bonus: Add honey for a mix of bursts of taste in the mouth, this is optional.

Chicken or Paneer Salad

Ingredients:

• Boneless chicken pieces (or Paneer or Tofu)
• Ginger garlic paste
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Capsicum

Dressing:

• Olive Oil
• Lemon juice (or Apple cider vinegar)
• Salt to taste
• Chives
• Oregano
• Chilli Flakes
• Or Italian Mix Garnishing

Method:

• Marinate the Boneless chicken pieces (or Paneer or Tofu) in ginger garlic paste for upto 10 minutes (lesser for paneer or tofu).
• Take a pan, add olive oil and stir fry till its cooked.
• In a bowl add long cut pieces of tomatoes, cucumber and capsicum.
• Mix all the dressing ingredients and add it to the mix of chicken and vegetables.

PS: adding sprouts to all of these salads would increase the nutrition value many folds, so go ahead and add to any of the salad above. You can also add lettuce and salad leaves to all the salads above.

As they say, the more colour you add to the salads, the healthier they are. Cheers!

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